Heartless
by Cellulex
Summary: In a world before the Empire, before Darth Vader, and before even the Clone Wars, a war is spiraling out of control. The rein of Darth Malure has begun, and chaos begins descends upon the galaxy we have known for so long. Just as hope seems lost, an odd hero emerges from the mist, with the ability to save the galaxy. However, will this hero be derailed by an unexpected love?
1. Urgent News

Chapter One

"Ghon, is that you?" Lorenia called as a loud jingle ran through her three-room apartment. She was perched on her desk chair alone in the main room of her quarters flipping through a large lightsaber handbook, looking through different grips and wiring systems. The small room sat as it usually did – meticulously clean. In the corner she currently resided in, sat her white desk and matching chair. Directly to her left was the simple white wood door that led into her bedroom. Along the wall behind her was a small training area and the door to her small washroom. Lastly, in the corner to her left, was a table made of clean-looking white wood with a matching two chairs. Her wall was the same- clean-cut white, with a tile floor of the same white color.

As she set the book down on her desk and rose to stretch her arms and back, a gruff male's voice- obviously Ghon -called back through the door in a quick-paced and urgent manor, "yeah Lorenia. Open the door. I need to speak with you, _now –_ I have very important word from the Jedi Council."

The padawan rose quickly, hurried to the metal door and entered her personal four number key-code into the opening mechanism, which sat in the form of a touchscreen beside her door – _0930_. Immediately, the metal door slid open smoothly, to reveal the tall form of her Master. He stepped quickly into the room, signaling for Lorenia to close the door and sit with him at her small table. She did so and sat across from him, "what did you need?" Lorenia asked, looking Ghon up and down in more detail. His clothing was crooked and he was panting- from running, she assumed. His chin-length salt and pepper hair was slightly disheveled, and small droplets of sweat glistened on his brow.

Ghon began speaking, fast-paced and without stopping to breath throughout his speech. "The Hutts are holding a threat against a large village on Tatooine. We have an hour to prepare, and then we need to get out of here and into hyperspace. Bring some training equipment to polish up your skills in the ship. I don't know how long we'll be there, but I'd suggest bringing some extra clothing. Our orders are to be in and out as fast as possible and to stop the Hutts before they can kill off the village. Understand?"

Lorenia nodded slowly, but then looked at him quizzically. "wait... if this is only a village on Tatooine, why are we interfering?"

"This is not _only _a village on Tatooine. This village is a main fighting force in our mission against the Sith. They've been holding out against the Sith since the war began, and if they get taken out Tatooine as a whole planet will be lost." Taking a small break to make sure his apprentice was following, he continued, "the Jedi Council's theory is that Darth Malure- the new Sith Lord that we found out about two weeks ago -is behind the attack."

"Wait," Lorenia interrupted, holding up a hand for him to stop, "I thought you said the Hutts were attacking."

"Here's an idea," Ghon fumed, eyes flaring with annoyance and hot-headed temper acting up suddenly, "open your damn ears and get a clue. More than one person- or in this case, creature -can be involved in one crime. Now, I'm going to pack my bags. I suggest you do the same." He rose, and she rose as well, hurrying to open the door for him to leave. It slid open as smoothly as it had the first time, and her mentor left the apartment without another word. When he was gone, she closed the door and sighed, heading into her bedroom and beginning to pack a small supply bag with everything she would need. Little did she know, the journey ahead of her would be much longer than she anticipated...


	2. Landing on the Sandy Planet

Chapter Two

Lorenia's hour of time had passed, so she gathered the supplies she had packed and headed up to the roof; Ghon would be waiting there with his aircraft. After making sure everything was in it's place and her door was locked, the young Jedi Padawan boarded an elevator and pressed the R button. Immediately, the elevator shot upward and Lorenia went forty floors up to the roof of the building. There, on the launch pad, Ghon leaned up against a support beam attached to the gaping entrance hatch. When he noticed Lorenia, he nodded slightly and walked over. "Good, you're just on time to leave."

"I didn't want to be late," the Padawan replied simply, giving a shrug. Without saying more, she moved to get on the ship, but Ghon grasped her shoulders.

In a low, serious voice, he murmured, "whatever happens on this planet, whatever goes down out there, you worry about yourself and yourself only. If I go down, you get back to the ship like your heels are on fire. Don't look back. You get back to Coruscant and deliver word to the Jedi council. Understand me?"

Lorenia, speechless at his sudden seriousness, nodded. He let go of her shoulders and stepped aside, allowing her to board the ship. Once inside, she threw her bags onto a long couch and moved into the cockpit, seating herself in the copilot's chair. A moment later, Ghon sat beside her. He closed the entrance hatch and flipped a lever to power up the ship. With a high buzzing noise, the ship lifted off, rising higher and higher above the roof of the building until they hit space. "Hold on to something." Ghon said as he flipped another switch and the ship launched off into hyperspace.

–

A long while later, the ship dropped out of hyperspace and began descending onto Tatooine. Lorenia had been flipping through the lightsaber manual again, looking for the kind of grip she wanted, when Ghon announced they would be arriving soon. So, she now sat silently by his side, watching as sand was blown around under their landing ship. "Where are we?" Lorenia asked, looking around at their desolate surroundings.

"We're on the outskirts of Tatooine. It's going to be a lot of walking, you wearing comfortable shoes?"

"I've got my normal boots, so yeah." Was Lorenia's simple reply as she rose and headed back to gather her supplies. The padawan slung her bag onto her back as Ghon flipped open the entrance hatch. The Jedi Master joined his apprentice and retrieved his own bag.

"Stay here while I scout out the area. I'll call once I know it's safe." Ghon said, heading down the ramp and onto the ground of the sandy planet. He disappeared around the corner as he scouted out their surroundings. After a few moments, he reappeared at the bottom of the ramp and called up, "we're good. Come on out."

Lorenia followed his directions and hurried down the ramp. "How do we close the hatch from here?" She asked, wondering why Ghon hadn't told her to close it.

Ghon shook his head, "we don't. Now, follow me and keep your head down." He pointed off into the distance, where a dust cloud had risen up, with red flashes of light arcing through it. "That's where we're headed. Just... look inconspicuous and keep next to me." Without waiting for her to respond, he began moving quickly off towards the dust cloud, forcing Lorenia to run after or be left behind.


	3. Death of the Hutt

Chapter Three

Ghon stopped at the edge of the dust cloud, shielding his eyes from the flying sand particles around them. Men in black uniforms were jogging through the town, yelling orders and blasting buildings to get people out. Next to a large building was none other than the lead slime ball- literally -Jaaba the Hutt. Lorenia gasped as Ghon pulled her down behind a large pile of garbage, and began urgently whispering in his Padawan's ear. "Cause a distraction, and don't get caught. I'll take out the Hutt and then we'll get the hell out of here. Got it?"

Lorenia nodded and rose, flipping on her training lightsaber. She ran quickly forward, sprinting as hard as she could, to crouch behind another garbage pile. The Padawan continued doing this until she was ahead of the men in the uniforms, watching as they got closer and closer. Once they were a few feet away, she moved into the center of the road and arced the blue blade of her lightsaber through the air. "Hey, Hutts!" She yelled, and instantly every one of their blasters was aimed at her. "Try and get me!" She called, continuing with fancy lightsaber moves.

Four red blasts came flying her way, and she went into the back flip to go under three of the deadly blasts. The fourth one was deflected off the side of her saber, and went flying back into the crowd of black-cloaked men. "Missed me!" She yelled cockily, spreading her arms wide, "My aim was better than yours when I was two years old!" Looking to where Jaaba the Hutt sat, she saw that Ghon still hadn't done his job. Another blast came her way, and was deflected once more, killing one of the front-line warriors.

That's when Lorenia came the closest she ever had to dieing. The red lightsaber came from no where, singing off a good inch of her chestnut brown hair. If not for Lorenia's Jedi-trained reflexes, the next thing singed off would have been her head. Before the lightsaber could strike again, Lorenia went into a duck and roll. She came out on her feet and whipped around, holding her lightsaber in a defensive position as the deadly red lightsaber flew at her once more.

As she was being swung at, two things came to Lorenia's mind: Ghon wasn't helping her, and the men in uniform had stopped firing. After looking over her current opponent, she realized that this must be him! This was none other than the malicious Darth Malure. Quickly, Lorenia brought her lightsaber up to her head as she realized the Sith lord's own was being swung at her forehead. They went back and forth like this for a long while, until a bellow could be heard from nearby.

It was Jaaba the Hutt, who slouched forward. Ghon stood behind him, orange lightsaber extended. He looked to Lorenia, nodded slightly, and took off running. Lorenia threw a kick at Malure's ankle, swiping his feet out from under him. He hit the ground hard, giving Lorenia an opportunity to run. She shot across the sand dunes and quickly caught up to Ghon. They got closer and closer to the ship, until they were both leaping onto the entrance ramp and into the ship. Ghon sat in his seat immediately and flipped every needed lever as fast as possible.

The entrance closed, just as Lorenia caught a flash of black. She stood there panting as the ship lifted into the air, and something donned on her: if they had been any slower, Malure would have caught them. Just as the thought struck her, Ghon launched into hyperspace and Lorenia was forced to sit down or fall down. Smiling softly, she thought about the successful mission. Now they could go home... right?


End file.
